City Women concluded Phase One of the Adran Premier with a 2–0 win over Aberystwyth Town on Wednesday evening.
Two first half goals from Ffion Price and Mackenzie Olden secured all three points for the Bluebirds.
Head coach Iain Darbyshire made three changes from the side that defeated Barry Town United last time out, with Nieve Jenkins, Lily Billingham and Laura Curnock coming into the starting XI.
The Bluebirds started brightly with some early chances, as Billingham fired narrowly wide of the post, before Olden’s strike was held by goalkeeper Sophie Steele. The breakthrough came with 11 minutes on the clock, as a long-range free-kick from Price found its way into the bottom corner.
Eight minutes later, the lead was doubled, as Olden raced into the box and applied a clinical finish, firing into the bottom corner. Darbyshire’s side proceeded to control possession for the remainder of the opening period and went close to adding a third before the break, as Billingham and Price had efforts blocked.
Early in the second half, striker Curnock made a brilliant run down the left and drove into the box, before finding Fiona Barry, whose close-range effort was blocked. On the hour mark, a pinpoint corner from Price found the head of Nieve Jenkins, but her effort at goal was saved by Steele.
As City continued to have control of the ball, Darbyshire turned to his bench and gave valuable senior experience to U19 duo Lucy Malin and Georgina Bull.
The Bluebirds now head into Phase Two with momentum, having won the last five consecutive matches.
FINAL SCORE: CARDIFF CITY 2-0 ABERYSTWYTH TOWN
Cardiff City: Chamberlain (Phelps 75’), Owen © (Long 46’), Bowen, Jenkins, Price (Bull 62’), Walklett, Billingham (Malin 75’), Kehoe, Barry (Collie 62’), Olden, Curnock.
Aberystwyth Town: Steele, G Jones, R Mathias ©, E Jones, L Mathias (Talbot 81'), Scourfield, Evans, Roberts, Ewers (Herbert 82'), James-Evans, Bufton (Mawle 88'). Subs not used: Mawle, Jenkins, Herbert.
REACTION | IAIN DARBYSHIRE
After the full-time whistle, Darbyshire said: "We did some good things in the first half and in the second half, it was about preservation, making sure nobody got injured and we limited the intensity of the game, managed the ball and I think we did that really well. It's a positive end to Phase One for us and we can focus on Phase Two now.
"We had some planned substitutions because some players have played a lot of minutes. Ffion, Lisa, Ceryn, they've played nearly every minute of the season so far, so we needed to give them a bit of rest. We managed to do that and we'll get a recovery session in tomorrow.
"The attitude of the players has been excellent. They were gutted that the game on Sunday was abandoned because we were in a really good position, but we had a great training session yesterday, everyone was focused and right now, the players can't wait for every matchday. There's a really good feeling around the group and that's down to the hard work we've put in during Phase One."